Numerical evaluation of zirconium reinforced aluminium matrix composites for sustainable environment

Due to the momentous advantages of composite materials, recent years many studies focused on reinforcing different new materials to the existing ones to improve their conventional strength and life time within the concern of application status. In the row, reinforcements on Al6061 become a fancy topic among researchers due to its wide applications including automobiles, yachts, electrical fittings and so on. This study continues this innovation by reinforcing three different reinforcement materials including zirconia (ZrO₂), zirconia?+?aluminium oxide (ZrO₂ +Al₂O₃) and fused zirconia aluminum (40FZA). These three reinforcing materials are included with the proposition of varying particle reinforcements as 5, 10 and 15%. The testing specimens were experimented to explore its mechanical, wear and corrosion behavior. Further the experimental results are given as inputs to the numerical analysis, PROMETHEE. By combining the experimental and numerical methodologies the reliability of the results were improved. However, from this study it can be evident that inclusion of 15% particle reinforcement of zirconia fused alumina in Al6061 provides greater strength, toughness, high resistance to wear and corrosion on both experimental and numerical analysis. There is ample room that this proposed material inclusion be a better option for the reinforcement of Al6061 among available alternatives for sustainable development.